Susan’s secret: she’s HIV-positive

“Susan” lives at Woodwards social housing in Vancouver. He has a secret that she hasn’t shared with her family nor close friends — she’s HIV-positive.Photo by
Arlen Redekop

Susan loves the time she spends with her family, especially her 18-month-old grandson.

“He’s my life,” she said. “I spoil him like crazy.”

But Susan, 52, carries a secret she hasn’t been able to tell her family: that she is HIV-positive.

The Downtown Eastside resident was diagnosed five years ago from unprotected sex. She goes to St. Paul’s every two months to get blood tests and x-rays. She gets her antiretroviral drugs and support from the Portland Hotel Society, which runs Woodwards social housing where she lives.

She feels healthy and “normal,” said Susan, and doesn’t want to risk the stigma HIV/AIDS can confer.

“I’m really scared of telling them,” she said. “I feel like they are going to see me different.

Susan, which is not her real name, has not been in a relationship since her diagnosis, and doesn’t plan to get involved with anyone anymore. She’d rather stay single, she said, than have that awkward conversation.

She credits having stable housing and proper supports that enable her to focus taking care of herself.

“When you have somewhere to live, someone to help you with it, it’s much better.”

Vera Horsman, Woodwards clinic nurse, said HIV-positive patients need to take their pills every day else their body can develop a resistance to the drugs. In the Downtown Eastside, however, patients can often have other pressing issues to deal with, whether it’s food or housing or other health conditions.

“Once everything is settled, and they don’t have to worry about their lower tier of needs, that’s when they can focus on their health and taking medications everyday.”

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